Friday, December 27, 2013

Subaskaran Allirajah: Conservative Party Funder

Apparently news.lk reports that Subaskaran Allirajah is the one who is funding the British Conservative Party and
points out that the Subaskaran gave 420,000 Sterling Pounds to the
Conservative Party as one time donation. It says that he has given over
20 million to Prince Charles Foundation as well.

David Cameroon’s visit to Jaffna and his statements against the Sri
Lankan government were made on the behest of Subaskaran. It points out
Cameroon’s Jaffna visit was facilitated by Ganam Foundation established
by Subaskaran in Jaffna to steer their Anti-Sri Lankan Government
activities.

Who is Subaskaran Allirajah. According to the wiki Subaskaran Allirajah (born 2 March 1972) is the Group Founder and Chairman of the Lycatel and LycaMobile Groups of companies. It also says his mother language is Sinhala (that has got my head scrtching).

MVNOs offer consumers cheap calls using pay-as-you go mobile Sim cards.
Calls between Lycamobiles are free while calling UK landlines costs 5p a
minute and other mobile networks 10p a minute.But the real
savings come when calling abroad. For that reason the firm’s marketing
is aimed at ethnic minorities with families and friends in their home
country. You’ve probably seen Lycamobile advertising on the high street – it
offers calls from 1p a minute from the UK to destinations such as India,
China and Nigeria under the slogan “Call the world for less.”

Tax Avoidance and Donations to Conservative Party

But despite being popular with migrants looking to call home,
Lycamobile’s hit the headlines for the wrong reasons. It’s come under
attack both for its tax arrangements and its links to the Conservative
party. Despite a £120million turnover a year, Lycamobile hasn’t paid
corporation tax in the UK since 2007 and doesn’t expect to for at least
another year.Tax is only payable on company profits – and Lycamobile has not reported
a profit on its UK operation. Michael Landau, Lycamobile's chief
financial officer, said the firm ploughs its profits back into the
business.Lycamobile's tax arrangements have drawn criticism from politicians.
Labour MP Paul Flynn described the situation as “outrageous”. To make
matters worse, Lycamobile is a big Tory donor; it’s donated more than
£420,000 to the Conservatives since 2011.Margaret Hodge MP and
chair of the Public Accounts Committee, has criticised both the
Government and Lycamobile for the arrangement. "No political
party should accept donations from a company that avoids paying its fair
contribution to the common good,” she told the Huffington Post, “The
Government loses credibility if it says it condemns tax avoidance and
then accepts money from obvious offenders."